


Soothing

by kook_kie



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied jihan, M/M, Post-Break Up, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 06:09:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15136811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kook_kie/pseuds/kook_kie
Summary: "You live in the room next door to mine and you have been playing the mountain goats very loudly for the past five hours."AKAMinghao cannot possibly handle this any longer.





	Soothing

-Hour One-

 

It all started with obnoxiously loud chatter from the room next door. 

Usually Minghao was fine with the noise. It was common in a building known for its higher student population, and he liked to have some background static to keep him sane in his empty apartment. Although, it started to become a problem when the voices turned angry, a door slammed, and the music started. 

Minghao recognized it immediately. He couldn’t pick out the words exactly, but he could definitely recognize the gentle soothing tones of The Mountain Goats. He liked this type of music, but not when accompanied by obnoxious wailing. He was barely back from his evening classes and now he had to deal with this. And when it showed no immediate sign of stopping, Minghao groaned and laid his head on the stack of papers in front of him.

He had a lot of studying to do. It was going to be a long night. 

 

-Hour Two-

 

Minghao was only halfway through skimming his notes for his psychology final when the incessant, otherwise calming, sounds from coming from next door began to drive him crazy. The good news was that he didn’t hear anymore yelling. The bad news was that if he listened too closely, he heard a consistent quiet sobbing. More annoyed than sympathetic at this point, Minghao figured that the only solution was to put in headphones to drown it out. 

No Mountain Goats for him. Instead, Beyonce would have to do. 

 

-Hour Three-

 

When he finally put away his books for the night, it had been nearly an hour since he heard any signs of sound from next door.  
However, when he pulled out his headphones, the echo of John Darnielle's voice was waiting for him. Minghao let out a long sigh. Was this ever gonna end? He had half a mind to ju- 

An idea came to him. If he couldn't beat this depressing atmosphere by ignoring it, he would try and drown the sound out. He walked over to turn on his large, expensive and now justifiably purchased speakers, and prayed that the RA wouldn't yell at him for a noise disturbance. It comforted him to know that maybe he could bring his annoying neighbour down with him. 

The soothing sounds of heavy metal screeching washed over him in a comfort. The occupant next door stood no chance. Thus, he began his much needed dorm cleaning ritual. Living as a student guaranteed at least some kind of disorganized mess. However, he wasn't a complete slob. 

At least the dishes were finished.

 

-Hour Four-

 

After about another forty five minutes of mindless cleaning, and the floor being vacuumed in its entirety, he decided to turn his music down to check on his neighbour again. Every ten minutes or so he had done it, and every single time the steady rhythm was still there. And Minghao swore he heard this exact song a good half hour ago. Was the guy just listening the same playlist on repeat?

He sighed. 

Hopefully this would all be over soon and he could just get some peace and quiet. The best thing he could do was just wait it out calmly, so he flopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. It had been going on long enough now, so it had to come to an end at some point right?

 

-Hour Five-

 

Minghao was going to fucking lose it. 

If he had to hear Woke Up New one more time over his drama, he was going to kill someone. At this point, he was past caring whether or not it was rude. He was going to march over and tell this infuriating fuck to get over himself and demand a stop to the music. 

Minghao threw himself off the couch, clicked off the TV, and stomped directly out of his apartment. It only took him a few seconds to reach the door of his neighbour and he angrily pounded on the door. 

No answer. 

He waited for a minute longer, and, growing frustrated, pounded harder.

Nothing. 

Minghao was willing to try anything at this point, so he jiggled the handle. 

Surprising him, the door swung open slowly. He held his breath and waited for an alarmed voice to tell him to get lost. When it didn’t come he peered into the room which revealed a dorm much like his own. The only thing that was unfamiliar was the decor, and the man that was sitting slumped against the wall of the far hallway. 

Minghao, alarmed, lost his anger rather quickly. Was he dead? 

"Hello?" He called out. When the man didn't move, he took a few tentative steps into the room. "Are you okay?" He asked, slightly louder. 

That seemed to catch the man's attention, and he widened his eyes at the intruder. 

Minghao raised his hands in defence. 

"I'm so sorry, I don't mean to intrude but, are you alright?" 

The man fumbled to lift himself off the floor, and Minghao could tell he was trying to hide his eyes when he stared down at the ground and replied. 

"Uh, hey. I-It's fine. I know you're just asking if I'm okay, but would you mind leaving? I don't really want any visitors right now." He was still trying his hardest to avoid Minghao’s gaze. Minghao almost wanted to scoff, but he pitied this poor man. He probably never even realized the kind of disturbance he was making. 

"Look," Minghao cut in, anxious that he sounded more rude than he meant to be. "I've been listening to your music play loudly for five hours straight. I came over to tell you, kindly, to please, just please turn it off."

The man's eyes widened, and he breathed out "oh god," before running over to pick his phone off the ground and pause his music. The dorm was eerily quiet now, and Minghao found he didn't like it. 

"I'm so sorry!" He bowed frantically in apology. "I had no idea it was so loud! I- I'm really sorry for interrupting you." Then he seemed to realize he was staring at Minghao in the face for the first time. 

He suddenly knew why the man had been avoiding looking at him. His cheeks and eyes were puffy and red from crying, and there were traces of tears running down his face. 

He tried to hide it again by looking down, but Minghao didn't care about that. He felt bad about barging in unannounced now. He wouldn't want anyone to see him crying either. 

"Hey, its okay. Crying is- crying is normal. I don't care."

The man looked up again, but he looked slightly more relieved that he wasn't going to be laughed at. It took a long moment for Minghao to actually stop holding his breath, because well, the man was beautiful. His dark eyes were large and mesmerizing. Honestly the only thing that wasn't beautiful about him was the solemn look on his face.

"Um, I'm Minghao, by the way," he said finally, feeling awkward. 

"I'm Joshua," the man replied. 

"Sorry about the whole, bursting into your apartment thing. It was kind of uncalled for, but there was no answer when I tried to knock."

"It's okay, I understand," he said, trying out a small smile. Minghao fought off the urge to stare at the small upturn of his lips. 

At this point, he wasn't sure if he should leave or not. 

He made his decision though, when he opened his mouth again.

“So um- what’s wrong? Do you want to, uh, talk about it?" 

Joshua snapped out of his stupor rather quickly. He didn't look uncomfortable at the question, but rather wary. 

"I totally understand if you don't, I can just go?" Minghao gestured back towards the door with his thumb. 

Joshua opened his mouth to say something, but shook his head instead. "No, I mean. It might be good to talk to someone about it. You've already seen me at my worst and didn't laugh, so you can't be too bad a person to confide in," Joshua said.

“I mean, what else is there to do on a Saturday night?” Minghao tried to joke. 

Joshua smiled and walked over to sit at his previous spot on the floor. He patted the space next to him. Minghao coughed at the odd preposition, but didn't refuse it. He copied his cross-legged position and leaned his back against the wall. Not too close but not too far away. 

"You really wanna know what happened?"

Minghao was quiet for a moment and shrugged. "Sure," was all he said. 

So Joshua began talking, and Minghao just let him. 

"I hope you don't mind, its kind of personal." When Minghao nodded for reassurance, Joshua continued. "I, kind of had this thing with someone, we weren't really dating but we weren't really together. It was going good for a while, we both got out of it what we wanted, and everything was fine.” He stared blankly at the wall in front of them a moment. Minghao's eyes were on Joshua. 

“Then I started to fall for them, and I didn't know what to do." He sighed. "It was the most lost I had felt for a long time. And I didn't have anyone to turn to, so I just kept seeing them without saying anything. I thought it was what I wanted. That I could live with it.” 

Joshua looked over into Minghao’s eyes. He could see tears forming again. Minghao wanted to provide some comfort, and but didn’t know how. He restrained himself from patting the man’s shoulder awkwardly. 

"However, I found out now that the man that I had fallen for had fallen for someone else.” He looked up at that moment, as if daring Minghao to say anything against the nature of his sexuality. Minghao just stared quietly back at him, again with no judgement. So he continued. 

“He phoned me and told me that we couldn't meet up anymore. That it wasn't working for him because he found someone he actually wanted to be with. And that's where I am now, wallowing in my own sorrow because I was waiting, maybe, for a chance that he would fall in love with me back. But I guess I was wrong." 

Minghao finally moved his hand to rub circles into the man's back. Joshua was now hugging his knees to his chest and shaking. Minghao knew he was crying again. He didn't say anything, but instead let the silence settle over them both. 

Soft sniffles were the only thing heard over the natural quiet of the apartment. Minghao almost couldn't stand it. It was suffocating in the simplest of ways. 

“I’m so sorry,” was all he could possibly think to say in the moment. 

It was odd, how quickly one of them had seen the most vulnerable side of the other. They had only known each other for mere minutes. But now, Minghao was caught up in the wake of another person’s heartbreak. Yet, he wasn't alarmed by it. It felt natural somewhat, to be sitting here with Joshua. 

Sometimes people give phone numbers to attractive people they’ve just met. Minghao gave a stranger a shoulder to lean on instead. And Joshua took that shoulder unashamedly. 

They stayed together like that for a while, until the need for tears no longer lingered. Joshua managed to calm his shaking body and lifted his head slightly. 

“Thank you,” he said. 

Minghao smiled softly, and it grew until he had a grin stretching across his face. And then he laughed, a loud chuckle without regret. It was contagious, and somehow Joshua knew why he was laughing. What an odd situation to be stuck in. 

His anger was gone completely, and previous agenda forgotten. Yeah, so maybe he wanted to kill Joshua twenty minutes ago, but now he just wanted to give him a hug. 

He guessed a sad and lonely Joshua just had that kind of affect on people. 

When the laughter calmed between them, it was quiet again. Minghao found he missed the music. He cleared his throat, and pulled himself up and away from Joshua’s warmth. 

“Uh, I should go probably.” 

Joshua just stared at him from under the bangs covering his forehead. Minghao really wanted to reach down and push them off to the side. He extended a hand toward him and helped Joshua stand up instead. 

“Thank you,” he said. It felt like his cue to leave. 

Minghao wanted to turn away but he knew something wasn’t quite finished between the two of them. He held his hand out again. 

“Here, give me your phone.” He tried not to make it sound like a command, but failed probably. Joshua did as he asked and Minghao swiftly entered his name and number, sending a quick text to his own phone. 

“There. Now the next time you’re suffering I can just text you instead of unceremoniously bursting into your apartment.”

Joshua laughed. “Sounds good,” he said, and paused. “See you around sometime?”

“Yeah, of course.” And with that, Minghao gave a final little wave and trudged back to his own apartment. 

He wanted to seem as cool as possible, getting his number like that, but he felt anything but. Normally, there was no way he’d accomplish the exchange so casually. He wasn't sure why he did it, but it made him confident. He hoped that they would become friends, at least. 

Or, if he was being honest, Minghao hoped it led to him dating the hell out of Joshua himself.

**Author's Note:**

> This one's for you Andre #justiceforsoohao
> 
> This fic has been in the works for an absurd length of time for how many words it is. Leave kudos if you liked it, and if you have any comments or constructive criticisms I'm open to anything!
> 
> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!


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